At the risk of getting drawn into a debate about what constitutes ‘proper’ heavy metal, I present to you exhibit A –Canada’s Striker. Exhilarating and direct, these guys could not possibly provide us with a more perfect example of one specific brand of metal at one particular split second in time. They have taken it amongst them, covered it in denim, poured beer over it, driven it downtown at full speed for a night of high-jinx, sweaty groping and waking up to wonder whose puke you’ve just found on your jeans. This is the sound of heavy metal youth – mine anyway. If you can imagine a midway point between the new wave of British heavy metal and Spreading the Disease, this is it. Post-Iron Maiden, pre-Slayer and not unlike early Riot on vodka and Red Bull in a 21st century recording studio. In short, I’d place Striker at about 10.30pm, November 17, 1984. This, my friends, is a perfect example of speed metal.
We’ve got riffs a plenty and choruses that will revolve round and round your head so fast and merrily they will keep you awake at night better than a slug of the finest Columbian (coffee, I mean). These guys are having a good time and it shows. The vocals are high and the speed varies from breaking-the-limit all the way up to the adrenaline busting track Wolf Gang. The intensity of the guitar playing is at times something not far off a typical Dragonforce track. These guys are worthy guardians of the metal flame in a way that you can only be if you have long black curly hair, wear denim and dirty white trainers, and you smell a bit like bath time was three heavy drinking weeks ago. In beer.
Some black clad metal enforcers may well find Striker a little saccharine for their tastes even though the music leans more towards thrash than power metal. These songs are tight but sometimes don’t quite drive the blade home as forcefully as you might be led to expect from the initial burst of riffs. And as with every such perfect and honourably replicated musical formula the question comes down to one of variety. In short: what am I getting from track eight that I didn’t get from track one, two and three. The answer here may sometimes be: not very much. You may also find the choruses swirling round your head sometimes meet in the middle and become inseparable. But if the answer to that is a ‘so f***ing what?’ then you are definitely in the right place. Lend me a cigarette, drink your Budweiser and stop complaining or you might find you won’t be invited to the next party!
(7/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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